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Saturday was no exception as generations of families lined Penn Street waiting for the 2017 edition of the Parade to start.

"I've been coming here for 60 years," said 71-year-old Dee Banks of Sinking Spring, sitting in the front row at Sixth and Penn streets with her family. "This is the best parade in years. Mayor Wally Scott made it so great."

In less than two hours, the holiday tradition was dampened by rain, causing many families to rush to their vehicles or run for cover.

"This is really disappointing," Scott said, as he waited in Santa's Wonderland in the Farmers National Bank building at Fifth and Penn streets. "The parade was going really well, and then it started to rain."

Daniel Degler of Sinking Spring said that his children, Alex, 15, and Aidan, 11, got soaked.

"The children are waiting in the parking garage," Degler said, as he watched a purple hippopotamus helium balloon go by with his sister, Debbie Patton, 57, of Laureldale.

"This is so disappointing," Patton said. "It's a family tradition. We will stand out here and watch this. We won't be leaving no matter what happens."

Jeffrey Harris, 61, Wernersville, and his, wife, Dee, 58, moved their chairs under the roof at I-LEAD Charter School at Fourth and Penn streets while the children with them were scrambling around nearby.

"The children are getting really antsy," Dee Harris said. "But we will wait it out."

Despite the nasty weather, the parade still sparkled.

William I. Stoudt Sr., a former captain of the Reading Fire Department scuba team, said that the parade was better than ever.

"I've been coming here every year with my family," Stoudt, 76, said. "They finally got it right. It's so great."

Patty Acevedo, 43, said she loved watching her daughter, Khianah, 16, march with the Reading High School color guard.

Mary Abeloff, 61, of Reading, said she wouldn't miss the parade for anything. She brought her entire family.

"I was coming here since I was a baby," she said. "I love everything about it. I am having so much fun here. I have three daughters and six grandchildren."

Matthew Stumhofer, 35, a teacher at the Reading Intermediate High School, came prepared.

His 2-year-old son, Lucas, was dressed in a woolen hat and seated in a covered chair with his friend, Ella, 2.

"It so nice to see so many children here," Stumhofer said.

Graceann Pawling, 15, and her brother, Jamison, 12, of Shillington, were perfectly set for the rain.

The two were watching from the second-floor window of their family restaurant, Outside Inn Restaurant and Bar, 601 Penn St.

"I love seeing the purple hippopotamus dancing," Graceann, a Gov. Mifflin sophomore, said. "This is really bringing the city together. I have been coming to this parade since I was a little girl."

Jamison, a seventh-grade Mifflin Middle School student, was impressed with the bicyclists in the parade.

"It's really not that hard to do that," Jamison said, as he watched a rider do a wheelie. "You just have to put you bike in first gear and push it."

Fortunately, the weather didn't prevent Santa's arrival at Fifth and Penn to greet the children who braved the weather.

As the Ringgold Band played holiday music, dozens of children gave Santa their wish lists. This year's parade theme was Home for the Holidays.